"Why Can't I Be Different and Original . . . Like Everybody Else?" - Viv Stanshall

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Madness

Last year, a new law was passed in Georgia that allowed guns in state parks and other places they had not been allowed before. However, Atlanta's Stone Mountain State Park had a separate ordinance in place that prohibited firearms inside that park. A gun-rights group filed a lawsuit in May 2008 challenging the park's rule.

The park changed the ordinance after the lawsuit was filed to allow those with carry permits to bring their guns into the park as long as they first told the park police they were armed. That didn't satisfy the plaintiffs, and today the park gave in and settled.

Under the agreement, those with carry permits can take their weapons with them anywhere in the park. Those who don’t have permits but are qualified to have one (i.e., they are not felons or have not been involuntarily committed to a mental institution) can keep a handgun in their cars.

More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed by gun lobbyists against several cities and towns. They lost their suit to allow guns in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport up to security check points, but they have won all others, including cases against Fulton County and several of its cities, and Cobb, Henry, Gwinnett and Cherokee counties. Lawsuits are still pending against MARTA, as well as Fulton County Probate Court’s requirement that only Georgia residents will get a carry permit.

The constitution includes the right to bear arms. Shouldn't there be a right to be away from arms if that is one's preference?